National Football League

'We're for real': Cowboys D ready to clip soaring Eagles

Updated Oct. 14, 2022 6:08 p.m. ET

By Ralph Vacchiano
FOX Sports NFC East Writer

Jalen Hurts is having an MVP-caliber season for the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. He's got more weapons around him than he's ever had before. So far, opposing defenses have found him nearly impossible to stop.

The Dallas Cowboys know it.

They're also sick of hearing about it.

"How about this: That's the last question I'm going to hear about Hurts," Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said at the end of a short press conference on Thursday. "For real though. Because I really don't care. You all are asking me questions like I should be worried about them. Never worried. Never scared. Never quivering from any situation.

"I just want you all to understand that we're coming to play, too."

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That's the loud message from the overlooked Dallas defense, heading into their NFC East showdown with the 5-0 Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday night. They have one of the best and most disruptive defenses in the league, but they've even been overshadowed on their own team. The story of the season for the 4-1 Cowboys has been how backup quarterback Cooper Rush has led them to four straight wins while starter Dak Prescott has been out with an injured thumb.

But really, it's their defense that's led the way.

"The strength of our football team is our defense," said Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy. "We recognized that early in the process."

This game, though, is the chance to make everyone else recognize it, too. They've been great so far, but it's also debatable how tested they've really been. Because even though three of their games have been against what should have been good offensive teams – the Buccaneers, Bengals and Rams – the truth is all three of them have struggled this season and none of them rank higher than 20th in the league.

The Eagles are different. They're better. They're far more dangerous. They rank second offensively in the NFL. They're averaging 27 points and 420 yards. And they're multi-dimensional. They're seventh in passing and fifth in rushing. Hurts is seventh in the league in passing yards (1,359). Miles Sanders is sixth in the league in rushing (414). They even have one of the best and deepest offensive lines in the league.

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Stop them, and the Cowboys really might prove what Lawrence said last Sunday they want to prove to the world "that we're the best f---ing defense in the league—point-blank, period."

"(The Eagles) do have a pretty good offense," Lawrence said on Thursday. "They've got a good wide receiver corps, a good quarterback, good O-line. So they're well-rounded.

"But also, we ‘Dem Boys.' Remember that. Don't worry about it. You all will see on Sunday."

What the Cowboys are hoping to show everyone on Sunday night is that their relentless pass rush is unstoppable. Led by Lawrence and Micah Parsons they've got 20 sacks so far, good for second in the league, and Pro Football Focus rates their pass rush as the best in the NFL. Parsons leads the NFL with six sacks. And while all three of Lawrence's sacks came in one game against the Giants, he still leads the league in quarterback hurries (17), per PFF.

And with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn confusing offenses by moving them all over, sometimes even rushing them from the same side, the Cowboys defense has been extremely disruptive.

"We're for real," Parsons said on Sunday. "I don't care what people what people said about us or how they don't talk about us. We're going to keep proving this every week."

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It would be quite a statement if they could do it this week, on national television, with a chance to move into first place in the NFC East on the line. No team has been better at pass blocking than the Eagles, even with the injuries along their offensive line. And there aren't many quarterbacks who have been better at escaping a pass rush this season than Hurts.

He has just looked so comfortable, even under pressure. And the Eagles have so many ways to get him out of a jam. With the addition of receiver A.J. Brown (28 catches, 436 yards, 1 touchdown), Hurts is using the middle of the field far more than he did last season. And he's really spreading the ball around between Brown, DeVonta Smith (28-353-1) and tight end Dallas Goedert (24-335-1), too.

What's really set him apart this season is how he's seemingly read defenses better than ever, constantly making smart decisions. That's where the Cowboys hope to have an advantage, not only because their pass rush has been so dominant, but also because Quinn has done such an impressive job of disguising coverages. It hasn't been easy against the Cowboys for opposing quarterbacks to get at true, pre-snap read on what they're going to do.

And that sounds like something the Cowboys believe they can use to exploit Hurts and disrupt his rhythm.

"I think he knows his system better," Lawrence said. "I think he's making better reads and stuff like that. But I think there are still areas that he struggles in. So just attack (those) areas."

That's easy to say, though Lawrence seems to think it's easy to do. And the way the Cowboys' defense is playing, maybe he's right. They certainly have upped their game to make up for the loss of Prescott and their lack of a sustained offense. They have dragged the Cowboys to within one win of the top of the best division in the league.

If they can do it one more time, on their biggest stage of the season and in their biggest game, they won't have any more doubters. The Cowboys will be looked at as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

And their defense will be the biggest reason why.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.